A Thoughtful Tomorrow
by jnobeza
Summary: "A lifetime is the equivalent of a million words." Four seasons to tell her how much he loves her; four seasons to save his life. A five chapter RinXLen short story based on the song, "Feathers Across the Seasons."
1. 第1章 Winter

_第_ _1_ _章_ _| Winter_

It's silent this winter.

The birds have migrated and Rin was so used to hearing their daily chirps that she often forgets that, with their warm bodies, they too take their morning songs to the south.

She slides open the sliding door to see the beautiful outside muted in thick snow. She takes a single step onto the porch and looks up at the gray skies sending down a chilling cold in the form of gentle, white flakes. A small smile tugs on her lips until a quiet "hm" escapes from them.

Rin backs into the house and closes the sliding door. At that very moment, she perks up as a voice is heard to her right.

"It's been quite chilly this evening, hasn't it?"

Her expression softens. She turns around to Len standing by the doorframe of their bedroom. He dons a green kimono that reaches his ankles and has his hair kept in the spiked blond ponytail he never seemed to get bored of. Of course, it was a daily hassle for Rin to brush (as it always seemed to get itself tangled one way or another), but she dared not to make a fuss about it.

"It's been snowing more frequently than usual," she says with a smile. "It is winter after all."

Len nods.

He goes over to the _irori_ in the middle of the living room, the sunken hearth of the room in the shape of a square, filled with sand and ash and bordered with wood. He takes some fallen branches he and Rin collected earlier that week and bends down to the _irori_ to fuel it.

He waits for Rin to finish filling the pot with rice (that she had previously washed and soaked) and water to help it cook. She closes it off with the lid and brings it over to the _irori_ to suspend it on a hook. To this, Len starts the fire as Rin backs away and takes a seat before it. When he finishes, he dusts his hands together, then takes a seat beside her.

They warm themselves by the fire as the rice cooks.

Their desolate village is left barren in the snow. Just like the lack of villagers, the winter had left them little nature to tend to. It was just the two of them in this small world to care for themselves and one another.

Len puts an arm over Rin and brings her in close to his chest. She doesn't deny it. They huddle together for warmth and she rests her head on his shoulders.

Under his breath, she hears him murmur, "It'd also been snowing the day we'd met."

He was right.

* * *

She remembers the day she knocked on his door dressed in a white coat and kimono. She'd covered her face in protection from the cold and snow.

 _(It was this once. Just this once and she had no clue what she was doing. She'd never done something like this before.)_

The door slides open and it's a man in green with blond hair.

She slips off the hood over her face and reveals her long hair as bright as sunshine, loosely tied near the bottom with a red ribbon. Her eyes shine like amber, looking to be a yellow-ish tint perhaps due to the light from within his home.

"Excuse me, I've nowhere to stay and I'm in great need of shelter. Would you mind letting me stay for the night?"

Her smile is as warm as a fire. He returns back a smile even bigger than hers.

"Of course, please come in." He makes way for her to come in and she does. He closes the sliding door and the woman looks around the living room. "Make yourself comfy."

He once more looks over at her curious self as she bends down by the fire. He notices her eyes were rather a calming blue like the sky—nothing like the snowy, cloudy gray it was at the moment. The woman lifts her head to look him in the eyes.

"Thank you." She stands up and approaches him.

"My pleasure." He holds out his hand and smiles. "My name's Len."

She hesitates for a couple seconds, staring down at his extended hand as if she had no idea what he was doing. Slowly, she outstretches her hand until it's within his, all this while keeping her gaze fixated on his face, just in case she might be doing something wrong. They shake hands and he furrows his brow.

"Your name?"

She perks up. "Rin. It's Rin."

The day passes and by morning, Len finds Rin already up: sliding door left open as she sits crisscrossed on the porch, watching snow flutter to the ground. Len joins her; however, she doesn't acknowledge his presence.

"Are you okay?" he asks in a soft voice.

She averts her gaze to the ground. Len assumes she doesn't want to talk about it and her being a guest into his home, he chooses not to push her any further. But just as he's about to get up, he hears her takes a deep breath, close her eyes, and look at him with a small chuckle he can't seem to decipher is sarcastic or sincere.

"I'm okay." A pause and then a frown. "Len, I…"

Rin avoids eye contact with him and he attempts to reassure her. "Whatever it is, I promise you can tell me."

"I…" She closes her eyes and breathes. "I have nowhere to go… no family... no home…"

"… Oh, is that all?"

Confused by his response, she cocks her head and looks at him in bewilderment.

"You can stay with me."

"You'd… do that for me?"

He places a hand on top of hers.

"Of course, stay as long as you need."

"Thank you…" Rin looks down at his hand atop hers. "Thank you…"

* * *

The hearth warms the couple in the cold of the night. Warm from the fire, Rin hides her face in Len's sleeve and instead warms herself against him with his body heat.

With Rin snuggled against him, he closes his eyes and kisses the top of her head.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Critique on any of my fanfictions (and future fanfictions) is highly accepted an very much appreciated!


	2. 第2章 Spring

_第_ _2_ _章_ _| Spring_

The cherry blossoms are falling this spring.

In the trees, they're swaying ever so gracefully with the light breeze. Small chirps sound from the branches and rooftops as Rin hums a soft melody while bending over and picking up branches off the ground. She walks over to the porch and carefully sorts them in their pre-made pile.

Her humming transforms into a soothing song being carried away in the wind. Rin turns around and focuses herself on singing to the trees, to the birds, to the air, to the nature all around her.

The birds flutter down from their spots high in the trees to the green grass at Rin's feet. Her eyes follow them, and so does her song as one flies from a clutter of pink cherry blossoms to Rin, whose extended hand acts as a perch for the bird.

Listening to her sing was not only the bird, but also Len who sits crisscrossed near their pile of branches, twirling a bundle of them within his hands.

 _"Bloom flowers of spring, let the mockingbirds sing, sing with the season's breath of joy..."_

She smiles at the bird now chirping on her finger like it was singing along with her. Rin chuckles. They'd do this every time she'd start a song for spring—she always had to expect small songbirds falling prey to her ballads.

"Fly, little one." Rin raises her hand to the air to let the bird take to the skies.

As she watches the bird take off, a voice interrupts the moment.

"Your voice is beautiful."

She quickly whips her head around at the unexpected compliment. Len had been holding back those words until Rin had finished her song, just so he'd have time to cherish her entire melody.

A blush washes over her cheeks, then a smile over her lips. Her eyes sparkle like diamonds in clear daylight. Those words alone made her so happy— _anything_ Len said made her feel like she was the happiest person in the world.

Him.

She only needed him and no one else.

 _(For this happiness, for this life, she would give up everything in the world just to keep him by her side.)_

Because of that, she takes a seat on the porch next to Len, feet dangling over the edge. He puts down the bundle with the rest of the pile and scoots over to lean against Rin's shoulder.

"I love you," he closes his eyes and whispers.

She closes her own and replies, "I love you, too."

For a minute, the two remain in their positions: leaning against one another, eyes closed to take in the moment, and letting the calm, loving atmosphere surround them. Then, Len opens his eyes, and so does Rin as she realizes he'd taken his head off her shoulder and laid it on her lap, lying down across the porch.

Her gaze, fixated to her lap, is now fixated on Len's eyes. He relaxes like his head isn't positioned on Rin's lap—like he was napping without acknowledging her presence- and she smiles.

The tranquility leaves her with time to reflect. Reflect on everything that's happened this day... the previous winter... their marriage...

"Len?"

He opens his eyes. "Yes, Rin?"

"If someday, I no longer had this voice that you say is beautiful, would you still... even then... love me?"

He smiles gently.

"Of course."

There's a hint of wistfulness in his expression—a tear falls down his right cheek. To this, tears start forming in the corners of Rin's eyes as well.

 _(Would he do everything to keep her by his side, too?)_

Len extends his large hand and strokes Rin's cheek.

She closes her eyes—

 _(He would.)_

—and lets the tears fall.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Critique on any of my fanfictions (and future fanfictions) is highly accepted an very much appreciated!


	3. 第3章 Summer

_第_ _3_ _章_ _| Summer_

Green leaves are shining this summer.

The late summer sun had been shining ever so brightly since the beginning of the season; today the green leaves are beaming with its brilliant light. Rin slides back the sliding door, near blinded by the sun that she raises an arm over her eyes, and steps down from the porch.

She bends down to the ground and feels the dry dirt.

"So what?" Len says, arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe.

Rin sits up and furrows her brow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Are we ready to-" His sentence is interrupted by a cough. He raises a fist to his mouth to prevent the germs and holds onto the doorframe with his latter hand.

(Rin bites the bottom of her lip. Len's been like this for at least a week now. It's mostly been just coughs and brief fevers here and there, but she fears this sickness could lead to something worse.)

His coughing stops. He takes a second to breathe to make sure he'd be able to continue on without interruption, clears his throat, and then proceeds:

"Are we ready to plant, was my question."

He knows Rin's concerned for his health, but even so, she feels if she were to reply, she wouldn't stop her tears from pouring. Although concern was evident in her expression, she disregards his previous coughs and nods her head in reply to his question.

She gets to her feet and dusts off the dirt from her kimono. The two retreat inside the house. She goes to their bedroom, takes a piece of cloth to put around her head, and ties it under her chin. Meanwhile, Len prepares the rice seeds in a basket and leaves them on the counter for Rin to pick up.

They meet up before the open sliding door: Len with his hoe in hand and Rin with her bunched-up kimono sleeves and basket of rice tucked firmly in the L shape of her right arm. Their system had always been one of them—often times Rin—would broadcast the seeds onto the ground, then the other—Len, in these cases— would be in charge of using the hoe to mix the seeds into the soil.

She smiles at him and he smiles back. Her eyes dart up and down his body until she's inspected him from head to toe, then a frown graces her lips in place of that kind smile Len wish she'd kept on a little longer.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asks.

His hand caresses her face until his fingers settle beneath her chin. Lifting her head, he leans forward and lays a kiss upon her forehead. He whispers ever so softly so that she, and only she, can hear his gentle voice.

"I'll be fine, honey."

Rin lets these words reassure her.

 _(He'll be fine… there's nothing to worry about except the rice they'll be planting this afternoon. She shouldn't let herself worry so much about Len; at this point in time, his sickness is bound to subside sooner than she'd expect…)_

… She doesn't believe it for a second.

Rin is on her knees, taking rice seeds from the basket and scattering them across the dirt that was available for planting. She'd already spread the seeds in rows upon rows upon rows, yet she'd noticed Len—who had started his half of the task the same time she did—had been taking his sweet time with not even one row finished of tillage.

 _He's just tired, that's all,_ Rin constantly tells herself.

She finishes up the last bit of seeds in her current row, but before she can start the next, she takes a moment to breathe. It's been a while since they started planting. Even if Len hadn't done much, she believes the both of them still earned a well-deserved break, and stands up.

Then suddenly from her left, she hears coughing.

She wipes sweat off her face and turns her head around to Len.

 _Blood._

He's dropped his hoe and is hunched over coughing into his hand as blood spills into his palm. His clothes, too, are spattered in deep crimson. At first Rin doesn't realize the blood from Len's coughing, but she panics from the loud and violent coughs he's producing. She rushes over to him; her basket falls to the floor and the seeds flood the ground.

"Len!" She takes hold of his shoulders, but soon realizes the amount of blood he's coughing up, and screams once more, "Len!"

He pushes her away and furiously shakes his head—he doesn't want her to get too close to him that she catches his illness as well.

But she wants to help him in some way.

She _will_ help him one way or another.

Regardless of what he says or wants her to do, she takes his non blood-covered hand and relentlessly drags him inside.

* * *

 _Years ago in mid-winter, there was a crane, helplessly flapping its wings on that snow-fallen day._ _ **She**_ _thought she was done for—her little foot entangled in a trap that anchors her to the ground._

 _No one was there to help._

 _And yet, the snow kept falling._

 _However, among the bare trees, unbeknownst to the crane, is a man. He was out collecting wood, wearing a conical straw hat and black, fingerless gloves that the crane never would've expected someone like this would change her life._

 _He walks along the thin snow in his socks and sandals, his eye catching the struggling crane from a distance. He approaches the crane, who doesn't at all take notice of his presence, and stops to watch what she's doing. Her back is turned away from him and she's too focused on attempting to wriggle her foot free._

" _Are you stuck there, little buddy?" The crane continues to flap her wings, but her movements are more frantic this time. "It's okay… it's okay…" he bends down to the ground. "Now hold still."_

 _She does her best to comply with the man and hope it's enough for him to get her free. He brings his hands closer to her foot and tries to loosen the rope around her ankle. When he does, he slips the rope off the crane and smiles._

 _Before she flies off, he catches a little glint in her black, beady eyes for a second—just a second—and then she spreads her wings off into the cloudy gray skies._

 _He never thought he'd see something as beautiful as the crane he'd seen right then and there…_

… _Then came a knock on his door a day later._

* * *

Rin had helped Len wash the blood from his hands and made him change clothes, now she's at his side on the floor as he helplessly relies on her and a pillow and blanket for his comfort. On the edge of tears, she runs a dainty hand along his blanket.

Just a while ago, he'd had fevers and coughs that were nothing but brief, but now he's coming up with a fever even worse than anything they've had before and coughs that were nothing but blood.

 _(She has to do something.)_

To rid of his fever, Rin takes a small towel, wets it with cold water from a bowl, and places it on Len's forehead. Her hand caresses his face and she leans in forward to lay a kiss on his cheek. She whispers ever so softly so that he, and only he, can hear her gentle voice.

"I promise you'll be fine."

She lets these words reassure him.

They have barely enough money to provide for themselves, she doesn't know how their poor, married life could afford the medicine to cure his illness. For the years they've been married since they met that mid-winter day, they've lived in their desolate village caring for themselves and doing the labor to make up for their poverty.

As Rin pulls away from him, her gaze falls to her hands. (They're still placed against his head from her kiss...) She slowly takes them back and lifts them up for inspection.

 _(Her feathers—_

 _Her wings—_

 _Ever since that mid-winter day, she's been longing to repay him for saving her life.)_

She _will_ do something.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Thank you all for the kind reviews on the previous chapters of this fic! I'm deeply sorry I couldn't reply to them all, but know I am taking all your feedback into consideration!

This fic is basically what I consider a "short story" which in my terms means a fanfic with at least five chapters with a word count ranging from 100 to 1000 (less than 10,000) words (which compared to what I consider full-on fanfictions, full-on fics of mine are at least 1000 words with nine or more chapters). Therefore I'm planning for this songfic to be five chapters, one for each of the seasons, except after fall, we loop back to winter to end it off.

Critique on any of my fanfictions (and future fanfictions) is highly accepted and very much appreciated!


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